STALKER
by AegisX-TAIL
Summary: War raged on in the wizarding world. The ministry’s adamant denials of the return of Voldemort allowed the mad man time to plan and mobilize his forces. Harry Potter disappeared sometime after the end of his fifth year. 8 years of war and now he returns.
1. Chapter 1

**S.T.A.L.K.E.R.**  
By** AGX[tail]**

_This is something that came to mind while I was playing STALKER: shadows of chernobyl. Clearly, i don't own Harry Potter and if you recognize a few of the other characters... well, then, i don't own them either... Alrighty, now that that's clear, on with the show...._

_**Summary**__**: **__War raged on in the wizarding world. The ministry's adamant denials of the return of Voldemort allowing the mad man time to plan and mobilize his forces. Harry Potter disappeared sometime after the end of his fifth year… 8 years of war and now he returns.__  
_

Chapter 1 – Or How to Kill a few Wizards…

"Son of a bitch!" His shoulder throbbed, the fresh blood caking it along with the gleaming silver liquid he poured on it. The fucking lab techs had told him that at most, the healing compound would _sting_. "I'll show them how much this shit stings…" he muttered darkly as the gash slowly knitted itself closed and after a few moments leaving only pale fresh skin where the almost inch and a half deep gash had cut across his shoulder.

After a few seconds of moving the arm around to test its limits, he turned back to face the assholes who had managed to get slice him. The black robes were dead giveaways as magical even if the wands hadn't been present; after all, not many chose to wear shit like that in the normal world.

His mission had been a simple one. The daughter of a very high person in power had been kidnapped; her entire guard detail decimated and not one of them had managed to hurt the attackers. His mission was her retrieval and the elimination of bastards who'd done the kidnapping.

And of course, he was sent in because from the security footage, it was obvious that it wasn't normal people. The house held that dark, tangy electric taint of dark magicks and the costumes themselves just added to that.

It had been a pretty easy mission, tracking the girl down with a locator beacon surgically inserted into her body. Getting into the house was even easier, the wards sliding off of him as his own magic rejected them and allowing him access to the house.

Through out the house he stalked; the silenced Taurus 24/7 pistol bringing death to whoever crossed his path and allowing him to remain unnoticed. He was right outside the door to the girl's holding cell when a shrill alarm started ringing throughout the house. One of the bodies had been found, meaning that there might've been more in the house than originally expected. He slipped the silenced pistol away and drew a pair of Jericho 941's; kicking the door open and mowing down the hulking idiot in death eater robes trying to rape the girl.

The shrill screams of the brunette got annoying very fast, as she struggled to push the dead man off of her. "Shut the fuck up and stay the fuck down if you want to live to make it back to daddy." She pushed herself towards the corner, staying on her stomach as the sharp cracks of multiple apparations filled the room.

He inhaled deeply, his lungs filling to capacity before exhaling and repeating the sequence again. The world seemed to slow down around him and he moved. He stood in a crucifixion position, his guns aimed at a pair of death eaters on opposite sides when he let loose. The first pair of gunshots were loud but easy to ignore as he flowed into his next position, a gun aimed behind him and one forward firing even as he shifted again. To the death eaters, he seemed to blur into motion, the muggle contraptions in his hands spewing death.

In less than thirty seconds, the world seemed to speed back up and the click of his empty guns filled the room. He glanced around the room, satisfied with the massacre he'd orchestrated, as eleven bodies lay on the floor in various places and positions.

He grinned before ejecting the empty clips out of his guns. He slapped one into place when he heard the spell. "_Sectumsempra!_" The purple curse flew from the door behind him. He spun, his right arm going up and with a snap, a shimmering dome of magick popped into being. With a sharp crack the _Protego_ broke and the dark cutting curse sliced into his left shoulder even as he nailed the caster in the face with a burst of gunfire.

It was moments after he finished patching up his arm that he realized his mistake. "SHIT!" He turned and with a slight wince, he picked up the girl that had curled herself into a fetal position. He was running out of the house when another series of cracks reverberated through the night, he slid to a stop as once more, he was facing wand points.

"Harry!" He frowned, looking at the scarred red head facing him, thinking for a few moments before recognizing his once best friend Ron Weasley. 'Well, they fucked him up…' the thought brought a smirk to his lips.

"Guess the spotlight isn't so forgiving…" His words earned him a scowl from Ron, twisting his heavily scarred face into an even uglier form. He looked at the three others, recognizing Nymphadora Tonks, even as she lacked her bubblegum pink hair. Her heart shaped face was still pretty, but her violet eyes were filled with anger… no, wait. Not anger, but loathing.

He didn't recognize the other two chumps, just another pair of nameless idiots for the war machine to grind. Goodie.

"What the fuck do you want?" He kept his ears open for anything, including the asshole trying to get around him in the invisibility cloak. 'Probably mine, too.' He thought darkly. He put the girl down, where she proceeded to scramble behind him and leaving his hands free.

"You need to come back!" The intensity in Ron's voice was nothing new; after all, he'd heard him speak in that tone about the Slytherins and their evil.

"Why? So you fucks can crucify me once I solve your little problem? I meant it when I said fuck the wizarding world." Predictable, the moment things wouldn't go the way he wanted them, Ron immediately resorted to violence. With a deft twist, a stunning curse headed his way in all its weak, illuminating glory.

Sidestepping it was easy and the shotgun blast that blew Ron's knee cap out was satisfying. Without hesitating, he turned and fired his second shell into one of the two men left standing. He dropped the sawed off shotgun, rolling forward to avoid the three rapid fire bone breakers that Tonks had fired at him. With a flick of his left hand, three knives sailed smoothly through the air only to bounce off a hastily cast _Protego_.

He dodged once more, avoiding another three bone breakers from Tonks and pulled out his silenced pistol. He pulled the trigger, only for another _Protego_ to come up, barely holding the bullets back. Tonks' other companion was stumbling backwards, trying to hold his shield but another three bullets hit it and one more buried itself in his head.

A small beeping filled the air and he glanced down at the watch strapped to his wrist before looking back at Tonks once more. "Sorry, babe. Time to go."

"You're not going anywhere, you _bastard!_" she hissed, raising her wand and taking aim. Her eyes widened for a moment and she slumped to the ground with a small black dart protruding from her neck.

"Come on, time to get you home." He found his target laid out on the ground, most likely having fainted. He slung her over his shoulder, stopping only to appropriate the invisibility cloak that covered another body on the ground. "Killed their own partner… how very smooth." He rolled his eyes and took off at a run, dodging through trees and other foliage on his way out of the grounds.

15 minutes later, in the same clearing where he'd been dropped off at, a helicopter took off with the completion of another mission under Harry's belt.

***

"We need a healer! Fast!" Tonks rushed through the room, the bodies of both Ron and the rookie Jeremy floating behind her. Many of the other Order members leapt out of the way while Pomfrey bustled over towards them quickly.

"What happened? It was just retrieval." She guided both of the wounded on to beds and with a couple flicks of her wand, she started working on the worst of the two, Jeremy.

"Where's Potter? And Tobias?" Tonks turned to face the speaker.

Minerva McGonagall, still the same stern faced witch but with more gray in her hair than before, stood by watching as Pomfrey extracted the buckshot out of the rookie's stomach. "What happened? Ronald said it would be an easy job and yet?"

"He was inside a death eater safe house."

"Are you telling me he is a death eater? I've never believed all the garbage printed in the Daily Prophet after he left and this, I find hard to believe."

Tonks grimaced as she watched the last of the buckshot be extracted from the stomach wound on Jeremy. After a few spells to set the skin to heal, the old medi-witch started pouring potions down the unconscious man's throat. "No, he isn't. Apparently, he killed all the death eaters inside the house for some girl he was carrying."

"That is a relief. But what happened?"

"Ron told him to come back and he point blank said no. Ron tried to stun him and that's when he fired at us with muggle weapons. As you can see, his first shot took Ron in the knee and the other shot dropped Jeremy."

"Then it is safe to assume that he killed Tobias. But what of you?" McGonagall sighed as she watched Tonks.

"I don't know. He looked at his watch and I got shot by some kind of dart that knocked me out. If I hadn't woke up, both Ron and Jeremy might've died." Tonks watched as what was left of Ron's kneecap was pulled out and potions poured down his throat to heal the leg and regrow the bone.

"We need to talk to Albus."

It took them the rest of the evening to finally speak to Albus, who'd been in a closed doors meeting with the minister. Once informed that it was about Harry, he made his way down to the infirmary to speak with Ron. Both Tonks and Minerva found him extracting a silvery wisp of a thread from Ron's head and placing it into a vial and sealing it.

"Follow me, and Minerva, if you will please call Ms. Granger? She might be able to help us in this situation."

A silver tabby cat flashed through the room and out of sight, on its way to send a message to Hermione, who upon receiving it rushed to the headmaster's office. The gargoyle leapt out of the way without a password and once she reached the door, she was ushered in by Minerva. In the middle of the headmaster's desk, she saw his pensive with its surface gleaming silver with the various memories stored inside.

"Thank you for arriving quickly, Ms. Granger, your sharp mind might be able to help us with this." Albus gestured to the memory in the vial, which he poured into the pensive before adding a fresh one from Tonks.

"Where's Harry? Ron said they were heading out to get him when the sensor's caught his magical signature."

"That is precisely the reason why we asked you here. If all of you would please enter the pensive?" They all took up places around the desk before dipping their heads inside the pensive. After what felt like falling through a cloud of miasma, they landed in the memory they were to watch.

The first thing Hermione noticed was the changes her best friend had gone through. No longer was he gangly, looking underfed and mistreated as he had always looked throughout his time with them at Hogwarts. He was tall, if she assumed right, he was almost 6'ft tall. His body had filled out, his build still slim but with muscles visible under the clothing and his once untamable hair was slicked back into thick spikes that cascaded to his neck. Gone were the glasses and the lost look in his eyes that he wore sometimes, replaced with a surety and a dangerous air.

He wore black combat fatigues, black boots that reached his calf and a tight short sleeve black cotton shirt under a bullet proof vest. She took noticed of all the weapons strapped on his body and the dangerous grace with which he moved. She was saddened as she saw him shoot both Ron and the other members of the retrieval team, including the man he killed. But what hit her worse was the callous way of which he spoke of the wizard world and his disregard for their plight. After Tonks' memory ran its course, they entered Ron's.

That's when she saw it. Tattooed across the back of his forearm was a word she'd heard of before. **S.T.A.L.K.E.R.** Once the memory ran its course, she brought it up, reluctantly.

"That name, you saw it, right? The word stalker tattooed on his arm?"

Immediately everyone in the office perked up and gave her their attention. "It is the name of an elite mercenary organization that specializes in putting down conflicts across the world."

"Is there anyway of contacting this organization? A few moments to explain our plight to them so they'll return Harry to us?" Dumbledore was a cunning man, no one doubted that, and felt that with a few moments he would be able to convince such an organization to return their savior to them.

"That's just it. Only high end people in government can contact them and they're very expensive to hire. I only know about them because of a grand uncle that told me about them when I was younger." Hermione explained even as she continued to think about her friend.

"Do not worry, we'll bring him back. He wouldn't ignore the plight of the wizarding world after seeing everything that has happened." Dumbledore sounded confident and that meant he was already concocting a plan. Minerva sighed and Tonks continued glaring at the pensieve on the desk.

"I shall contact the prime minister; he should be able to help us."

_A/N: And well, hope this wasn't too horrible. I'd be grateful for any comments and suggestions for this or any type of constructive criticism._


	2. Chapter 2

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

By: AGX[tail]

Chapter 2: And here I thought it'd be boring….

***

"Well, the brat's here. Damn nearly turned me deaf with all her screaming once she woke up again." Harry's words earned him chuckles from his commanding officer as he delivered the girl and his report. "As you can see in the report, I ran into some trouble with a few remnants of my past."

"I can see. Will this be a problem?" His commanding officer, a woman in her early 30's asked. Harry grinned and shook his head at the question. After seven years of following her orders, he knew exactly what she did when problems cropped up. She was downright scary when mad; that he learned the hard way after his first mission fuck up.

He shook his head.

"Alright then, Cade." Harry gave her one last grin and walked out of her office, sighing only once he was far enough away to avoid being heard.

As much as people said he was scary, Motoko Kusanagi was even scarier, seriously. He didn't know much about his commanding officer, only that she was an ex-special forces with the rank of Major and he didn't know which branch but that was enough. She was tall, taller than him but slim with purple-blue hair and red-violet eyes; a real beauty and the subject of many daydreams by others in the organization.

He grinned once more, remembering the ass kicking she'd given him the first time she'd met him. He'd managed to get himself to the United States but with a lack of any type of resources and a regular education; he'd wound up living in the streets and picking pockets to survive.

Of course, after a while, he'd gotten good with his sleight of hand and he got cocky when he saw her leaving a bar close to midnight. That was what earned him the beating of a life time and a job offer due to his _stubborn survivalist nature_ or so she said.

He never regretted following the woman into this world and he doubted he ever would.

***

"Is it safe to assume that no one will be killed during this operation of yours? Because I cannot and will not tolerate your government putting my people at risk." Dumbledore suppressed a sigh as the negotiations between him and the prime minister were coming to an end.

He once again regretted the fact that the man's office had been warded and runes placed to avoid having anyone manipulation the man through indirect means including many standard trust spells. But that was one of the outcomes in the war against Voldemort, to avoid the muggles falling under the control of Tom.

"No one shall be harmed and of course, we shall be paying for the services of the organization once they arrive. Now that this is concluded, I must go now. Have to finish preparing." Dumbledore stood up and exited the office with his usual calm stride, apparating once outside the office and ending up outside of Grimmauld Place.

He entered the house, proceeding to the kitchen where Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody sat in all his heavily scarred glory. The man stared at Dumbledore for a few moments before Dumbledore spoke up "I charmed that eye of yours, Alastor." With a nod, the ex-Auror slid the wand he'd been aiming at Dumbledore from under table and into his sleeve.

"We have gained the help we needed from the muggle government and the minister already has the aurors selected for the operation."

Moody nodded and asked "Am I included in this? I saw how he took down Weasley and the other two rookies; and if you're sending more rookies out then all he's going to be leaving are bodies."

"Do not worry Alastor, I shall be at hand for this. You, on the other hand, have other matters to deal with." Moody scoffed before standing up and stumping out of the kitchen leaving Dumbledore to continue with his plans.

***

Harry was taking a well deserved day off. After three days of hunting and killing a few bastards to find the missing girl, he felt he deserved it. And that was the reason why he woke up in a bad mood when the pounding on his door wouldn't go away. Grabbing a cigarette from the pack on the nightstand, he lit it with a small burst of magical fire and headed to the door. He looked through the peephole, his gun barrel placed against the door just in case.

Outside was a black car and the man knocking on the door was familiar. Michael Rayne, if he remembered the man's name correctly, and he was part of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. as well. He shoved the gun into the back of his jeans and opened the door. "What do you want? I was sleeping."

"Sorry, sleeping beauty, but you've been tapped for another mission." Harry cursed before stepping back into his house to slip on a t-shirt and a pair of boots along with his keys and smokes. Once the door was locked, he followed Rayne into the car ignoring the look the man gave him when he didn't put out the cigarette.

And when they drove into the old power facility, he was on his second smoke. They drove past the gates and into an open garage door; the floor started to sink and when it stopped, a huge pair of metal doors filled their entire view.

Once again ignoring the looks he got, he walked forward and placed his hand on a black square in front of him. "Agent Cade, acknowledged." The wall in front of him vanished and he stepped inside. Stopping to crush the cigarette butt against the wall, he continued his way through the blank corridors that sprawled through out the facility. It had been a bitch getting around this place with no visual markers at first but after some time, he learned as all the newcomers did; it was either learn or be taught and the teaching was painful.

Once he boarded and exited another elevator, he found the room he was looking for. Mission Ops. Entering it, he found the Major standing in the front of the room and 3 other people.

"Glad to see you could make it, Cade. Take a seat," After he found a seat, she tapped the wall behind her and a black screen appeared. "As of 12 am today, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has been taken hostage. His home was stormed by an unaccounted amount of men, leaving the members of his security detail dead. I'm sure you know what this mission entails?" Several pictures of the man in question flashed across the screen, along with the bodies of his security detail. Harry frowned, leaning closer to examine the pictures a bit more. There was something wrong, he wasn't sure what but something seemed a bit… off.

"One question. What the fuck was security doing for the man if they allowed him to be captured?" Harry turned to face the speaker. Jane Harlen, a black haired woman somewhere in her mid-20s and a mean one from what he'd heard of her in his time around. "Taking a lunch break? Stopping for some pudding?" Both her companions chuckled and Harry took a look at who he was working for. All of team Wolf Pack, it seemed, since Shane Adair and Robert Barkley were there as well. The red haired Shane tapped his shorter partner's shoulder and silenced her motioning for the Major to continue.

"We've managed to track the vehicle that took him to a warehouse along a street called Shad Thames. They've asked for our best team and we're being paid a pretty penny, so let's try and keep the man living and breathing." Harry watched the Major step out of the room before turning back to Wolf Pack.

"I understand why they're sending in a four man cell, but any reason as to why you all? I thought you all were on missions already?" Harry was curious. If operatives were already involved in missions, they didn't pull the out and replace them with others. And they'd clearly done it in this case and he was sure it wasn't just because it was the UK's PM.

"We were told that some of the _other side_ might crop up." Shane answered, it was noticeable the way he'd spoken other side. Harry made a face before standing up and heading towards the Store. The Store was the place where all the equipment was kept and the place to put in orders for anything not currently in stock. He waited until the man running the place spotted him and tossed him the case that held his weapons along with his uniform and other gear.

***

It was rather easy, infiltrating the warehouse. Cade and the wolf pack had split up evenly, to cover more space quickly. They searched through the warehouse, leaving Cade somewhat apprehensive when they found no guards and nothing that indicated that there might've been a temporary base set up in the warehouse. Nothing.

They were nearing the end of the warehouse when a soft tingle spread across Cade's body. He spread his magick senses out and cursed when he found anti-apparition and portkey wards spread across the entire warehouse along with a good portion of the area around it. "We have a problem." He spread the news through their team com. "They're involved alright. I just felt anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards cover the area around the warehouse."

"We got bogeys appearing all around the place. What are the orders?" Shane, Robert and Jane were all still calm. They'd fought magic users before and this would be just like another sortie.

"We get to the target and eliminate anyone in the way." Cade entered the door at the end of the hallway, moving out of the way quickly as a red light of energy splashed against the doorframe. He shouldered his silenced G36 and fired several bursts in the direction that the spell originated from and received a cry of pain for his effort. Jane followed in after him, her own rifle held at the ready in case of another attack. He ignored the corpse as they went deeper into the storage area of the warehouse, moving around and over crates and boxes silently.

They reached the end of the room, the large rusted gates that once opened to let in cargo, in front of them when the gunfire erupted. "Shane, Robert! What's going on over there?" Gunfire and sounds of crashing and small explosions filled the com.

"Contact! We've got contact. We're-" Shane was cut off as Robert's scream of pain cut through the com. "Motherfuckers!" The gunfire resumed.

Harry turned, motioning for Jane to follow him. She was gripping her gun hard, the cloth on the gloves over her knuckles straining as she followed after him. They ran through the room they had cleared before, pausing only to shoot several cloaked figures that emerged from another door on the right. Even as the last body fell, they continued.

"You've got targets filling the room ahead of you, last count was 15." Eye in the Sky, their operator, called in. "There's too much interference for me to tell how many there are now." Harry stopped, leaning against the wall on the right side of the door while Jane mirrored him. "Flash, Frag and Clear." He pulled out 3 grenades and watched as Jane pulled out a pair of flash bangs.

Harry leaned forward and pushed the door open, looking away as Jane rolled the flash bangs into the room. He rolled the grenades inside; seconds after the flash bangs flared and blinded many in the room. Three muffled thumps later and they shouldered their rifles, entering the room cautiously.

Blood, body parts and the pained moans of the few living wizards left met them. Harry stopped above a blue cloaked man, who was clutching his shrapnel filled stomach weakly, before shooting him twice. "N-no!" Someone screamed from the other side of the room before gunshots brought silence to the room once more.

"Shane and Robert are gone. Vitals flared for a few seconds before they fell." Eye reported.

They found the room that the other half of their team had made their last stand in. Boxes and crates were everywhere, shattered and destroyed by curses and gunfire. They made sure no one was left standing in the room before they went across and kneeled in front of their fallen team mates. Shane's brown eyes were open wide, his body frozen in the unblemished death caused by the killing curse. Robert's body was mangled, obvious signs of spell damage. Jane was breathing hard as she stared at the remains of her team.

This was the first time she had team members die. It was the first time all of her team was dead. "This is a trap, isn't it? By those magic using cunts. They killed Robert and Shane. And they don't want me; I have nothing to do with them. They're after you. You!" Her grip was tight on her rifle, the weapon shaking in her hands as she stared at Harry.

"We have to go." Harry stood, slinging Robert's body onto his shoulder, ignoring the blood that splashed on him. Jane continued to stare for a few seconds longer before slinging Shane over her shoulder as well. " Eye, this is Cade. Mission aborted. Requesting pick up across the river as soon as possible."

"Chopper is on the way, Cade." The rushed out of the empty room and straight into a room full of wizards. Harry slid to a halt, slowly depositing Robert's body on the ground as Jane did the same. He stared around the room, looking for a way out when someone stepped forward.

"Harry Potter, you are ordered by the Ministry of Magic to surrender your weapons and come along quietly." The voice under the hood was familiar in all its smug arrogance. Percival Weasley, former member of the Weasley family and undersecretary to the ministry of magic as of late. "Comply. Your companion's survival is not guaranteed."

"Hiya, Percy. Bye Percy." His rifle snapped up, finger squeezing the trigger and unleashing a barrage of bullets. He rolled out of the way soon after Percy's body crumpled to the ground. A multitude of curses crashed into his previous location, spraying him with shards of asphalt even while he reached for his last grenade. The deafening bang and the white flare of light caught him off guard, along with the rest of the wizards as he threw the frag towards the crowd.

A few seconds later, his grenade detonated and his vision cleared. With his ears still ringing due to the flash bang and the close grenade detonation, he responded with magic. "_Insono Attero!_" With a sharp thrust of his hand, a blast of over pressurized air and sound blew forward, blowing a few hastily cast spells backwards and into the wizards. It was a stupid fight, he knew. They were outgunned and with little to no cover, they'd be overwhelmed soon enough. "Jane. Go! I'll cover you."

Jane was bleeding from some close calls, crouching behind a thick concrete set of stairs. "That's an order." She hesitated for a few seconds before she ran out the way they both entered the room. She wouldn't be followed, since they were after him. Harry turned back only to catch a sickly yellow spell to the leg and collapse as the bone breaker did its work. With the loss of his mobility, Harry had no choice but to stand his ground and shoot. Pooling together some of his magic, he cast again, only this time in defense.

"_Conglacio Catarracta!_"

An ice wall sprang up, taking the brunt of several spells but held together. The blast of fire that brought down his ice wall and the wide area stunning spell that caught him off guard were the last things he saw.

A/N: _And that's about it for now… Had this thought while playing this one game… see you all at the next updates…_


	3. Chapter 3

S.T.A.L.K.E.R

By: AGX[tail]

Chapter 3: Straight to Jail, Don't collect $200…

***

_She came out to meet him in the parking lot with a small black tee on and a red plaid skirt. It hung loose with pleats around her and measured just above her knees. Her feet bore black leather platform shoes with silver buckles, her legs were covered in black stockings, and her pink hair was worn free like the day he met her. "Hey…" he waved at her, as casual as the insecure teenager in him allowed him to, which wasn't much._

_He didn't remember much of the night only brief flashes of cognizance mixing with the pounding music, flashing lights and the heat that permeated throughout the entire club. Kisses, nips, and nibbles along with soft strokes of soft flesh and her panting voice so close to his ear as they danced, grinding and moving to the thumping bass and the blinding lights. The fire burning down his throat as drink after drink was consumed and the fire in his stomach as the alcohol settled, bathing him in warmth._

_He remembered an unfamiliar apartment and then… he woke up. He remembered who he had slept with the night before, Nymphadora Tonks, but there was no one else in the room and the apartment was strangely silent. Two weeks holed with Moody in Grimmauld Place had made Harry a paranoid teenager, having been forced to embrace the whole constant vigilance thing wholeheartedly. He stood up, wand in hand and the silver combat knife, one of Moody's gifts, clenched tightly in his hands as he exited the room silently. He felt heat flare inside him, this time brought forth by rage, as he stepped into the room._

_On the floor was a bloody naked Tonks. Sobbing softly and curled into a fetal ball with her knees clutched tightly against her chest. A silencing charm on the whole room, a clinical part of his mind told him, even as he crossed the room and kneeled besides Tonks. He took in her form and every bruise, cut and mark that littered it._

_"Tonks? What happened?"She whimpered slightly when he spoke her name but continued sobbing. 'What the fuck happened here?' he thought as he reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. The moment his hand made contact with her bare flesh, she cried out and shuffled backwards sobbing even harder._

_"P-p-please, R-Remus, d-don't… d-don't hurt m-me a-anymore, I-I'm s-sorry!" She whimpered, tears flowing faster down her face. Anger rolled off of him in waves, his magic responding as a cloak flew from the couch and landed on Tonks' body. She was covered and his magic eased her into a dreamless sleep as he stood up. He carried her to the bed in the room and left her there, activating the ward sequence her apartment was layered in after getting dressed and leaving._

_He made it to Grimmauld Place, slipping in silently and headed to his room. After a quick shower, he got dressed and slid the silver knife into its sheath and in his right pocket. His right hand clutched his wand tightly, knuckles white as he waited for the Order meeting in progress to end. He sat on the stairs, ignoring the questions his friends asked him once they found out he was back, his eyes locked on the kitchen door. When the door open and the ever sneering Severus Snape swooped out, Harry stood up and made his way to the door. Apart from a sneer, the Slytherin head of house ignored him and left followed by many other Order members._

_The moment he entered the kitchen, he was pulled into a tight hug by Molly Weasley. He tuned out her prattle as his eyes searched the room. Dumbledore watched him from his seat before Moody caught his attention and asked about Tonks. He caught sight of his target sitting tiredly at the table and spooning some soup into his mouth. He stepped around the table, catching everyone's attention except for Lupin's until the silver flash of the knife he drew from his pocket and the thunk as it embedded itself in the wood of the table. After severing the werewolf's hand, at the wrist and bringing forth a howl of agony from the man._

_"YOU FUCKING HURT HER!" His wand came up, a bone breaker blasting from the tip and slamming into the screaming Lupin's leg. In a flash, a disarming spell along with a pertrification charm slammed into him and brought him to the floor. He'd been so intent on hurting, maiming and killing Lupin that he had forgotten about Dumbledore and Moody. A pale faced Molly Weasley watched him, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly in shock._

_Once his identity had been confirmed, his interrogation was carried through swiftly. Moody had then left the room, allowing Dumbledore to speak to Harry in private until the screams that erupted from outside the kitchen interrupted him._

_He remembered… He remembered Tonks slapping him, blaming him for Lupin's maiming. Blaming him for ruining her chance to save Lupin. He remembered burning rage and tears. He remembered… sadness and a rainy night trip with his cloak. _

He groaned as he tried moving. He kept his eyes closed, feeling his arms restrained and shaking after that particular dream. He heard footsteps and he gave a soft grunt when something flat and large collided with his stomach. "Open your eyes, I know you're awake." 'Just fucking had to be her, didn't it?' The thought lanced through his head, followed by a variety of curses that he'd picked up on the job.

He opened his eyes and saw her. Bright pink hair parted neatly in the middle and hanging just below her cheekbones, and accented her striking cheekbones. A silver hoop pierced and divided her bottom lip just as neatly, drawing his eyes to her full and glossy lips. She was wearing a black shirt from some band that Harry didn't recognize, and had ripped the collar so that it slid over the top of her left shoulder giving only a remote hint at her cleavage. "Aww… you didn't go out of your way to get all pretty for me?"

A glare and a textbook to the stomach were his answer. "Shut up. I'm only here because you have to eat and no one else is qualified for it." Harry chuckled as he watched her levitate a tray from a small table and to the bed.

"I wasn't aware that you needed to be an Auror to feed someone." Once again, the textbook slammed into his stomach, this time bringing forth a cough from Harry. "Still carrying that grudge of yours, I see." The book rose once more but this time, her shaking hands let it go and it fell to the floor with a loud thump.

Whatever had kept him bound to bed was lifted and a pair of hands grabbed him by the shirt collar. "Yes! You fucking ruined his life with your stories!" Her right hand lost its grip on his collar and connected with his face once, twice and it might've gone for the third if Harry hadn't shaken her off.

"Ruined his life? Cause of my stories?! He was an abusive motherfucker! How many of your friends wake up bleeding and beaten, forced fucked by the man they're supposed to be dating?" Silence met him. "How many?"

Tonks didn't answer. She'd known the answer to that question for a few years now, after several confrontations with some of the female members of the Order. After everything that happened that night, Lupin had never been trusted again by the other members and was only kept around because he knew their secrets.

"But the thing that pisses me off the most, is that all of you really thought I was stupid. Just because I pretend not to notice doesn't mean I'm oblivious. The asshole hated me and yet here he was prancing around me, why? I noticed all the little pissing matches he always seemed to try and get into with me. The difference between him and I, is that I chose to act like the human I am and not a fucking animal." The food tray floated above his lap but with a shove, it flew into the wall across from the bed.

Tonks jumped, having gone silent during the little rant that Harry delivered. He had a point but she couldn't let it go. She'd been asked by Sirius to look out for Lupin and she had failed. Failed. Because of one night with Harry.

"You had no right! No right to go running to Moody or Dumbledore! No right to attack him! Whatever happened was between me and him and not you!" She was furious, her hands clenched tightly around her wand, only the thought of Sirius stopping her from cursing Harry in cold blood. That and because she didn't like cursing unarmed opponents.

"Yeah, I had no right. Just like you all had no right to kill two members of my team just to capture me." The silence was deafening. It was a mistake, killing the muggles, she knew that and that's what kept her from snapping back at him. "Give me my cigarettes and get the fuck out of here." Tonks dropped the disgusting cancer sticks on the bed and walked out of the room.

***

"What happened in there?" The Major stared at the woman sitting across from her. Cade and Wolf Pack had gone into the mission area only to abort and when the retrieval chopper arrived, only Jane was there. The two teams on standby cleared the warehouse, finding only the dead bodies of the rest of Wolf Pack and no trace of Cade. They had examined the area and found no trace of evidence except for high levels of Trans Mnemonic Energies or as those in the know would call it. Magic. There was no trace of the Prime Minister or of anyone inhabiting the warehouse during the time after the kidnapping.

"We went in. Cade said he felt wards springing up to block apparition and portkeys. We continued with the mission objective, breaking into teams of two to clear the warehouse faster. We engaged a hostile when Robert and Shane both engaged in a firefight with more of them on the other side of the warehouse. By the time we made it to them, carving through the opposition, they were down." She was trying to control herself but the anger burned white hot as she continued with the rest of the briefing.

"That's when Cade called in the chopper and the mission abort. As we made our way out, we were confronted by more hostiles. They were trying to capture Cade, threatening to kill me if he resisted. We engaged them in a firefight before Cade ordered me to run, seeing how we were outnumbered and that's the last I heard from him." Jane's fists were clenched tight, her knuckles white and her teeth grit in anger and pain.

"Those fucking bastards killed Robert and Shane for no fucking reason!" The Major stayed silent, knowing the loss of composure was due to grief. Her own temper was simmering after hearing of the casual way they threatened to kill another of her soldiers.

"Take some time off." Jane looked up, glaring at her boss as she processed what she'd been told. "That's an order. Right now, you are fragile. And you will break. I understand the pain of your loss and there will be hell to pay for this, that I guarantee you." Jane stayed silent, seeing the rage glinting in her superior's eyes before it disappeared again behind the cold mask of indifference.

"Thank you, Major." She stood up and left the room.

She took a few moments to browse through some reports on her desk when someone knocked on her door. A few moments later, she held in her hands a report from intelligence. A report that stated that during the time the Prime Minister was supposed to be kidnapped, he'd been spotted at the site of his vacation home. Several pictures were included as well, showing the man and his security team in good health. Those including the guards that had been _killed_ during his kidnapping.

"Fang, War, and Dogma. Get your gear together; we're taking a trip to talk to the Prime Minister." The com clicked and after hearing the affirmatives from her chosen teams, the lines went dead. The man had much to answer for and if those answers weren't satisfactory, then he'd dread ever crossing her and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

"Would you like to tell me why your office hired one of my teams to rescue you?" The Major leaned forward, her eyes burning straight into the Prime Ministers head. The man was visibly shaken. He was having lunch when the helicopters arrived and sent his security detail into a frenzy.

Three teams of six, all armed mercenaries bearing the familiar STALKER logo etched on their vests, strode through his office and held his security at gunpoint as their leader followed slowly after them. "And then I find out I have two dead soldiers, one missing and one out of action until further notice while you were resting comfortably in your vacation home."

The color drained out of his skin. Dumbledore had assured him that no one would be killed, he'd assured him! He should've known that it wouldn't have been such a high priority for old wizard. For the past eight years, the non-magical people of Britain had been suffering the worst through the terrorist actions of magical criminals. And now, with this happening, there would be consequences.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this! It shouldn't have happened like this! He just wanted to organize a meeting with you but I informed him of your no contact policy unless it was for work. He assured me that no one would be hurt!" The glare he got in return silenced him. For a few moments no one spoke and the office was devoid of sound. He watched as she reached up and tapped a small pendant on the lapel of her tactical vest.

"As of now, all operations being run for the United Kingdom of Britain are called off." A few seconds later, an affirmative sounded out through the com unit's small speaker. "You voided the contract that your country signed with us. You withheld information from us and got two of my soldiers wasted. And for nothing more than to aid in the kidnapping of another of my soldiers." She made a gesture and walked towards the exit, stopping at the door only to look over her shoulder "Tell your friends that I'll be taking my man back and they'll be paying for the deaths of the others."

Ten minutes later, the helicopters took off and in their wake, left a very shaken and angry man.

***

He watched the wards around the room flicker and bend as they were bypassed to allow someone entrance. The door slowly opened and inside stepped a familiar face from his past, another one at any rate. They had started sending in house elves to leave his food for him after his encounter with Tonks. No one had bothered to visit him; most were discouraged by his extreme hostility during his capture. "Idiots." He chuckled, before taking a drag of his cigarette, last in the pack he lamented, and turning to face his visitor.

"Why Harry?" Standing there was a slim red head wearing lime green healer robes and holding several potions. After a few seconds of looking at her in her brown eyes, the skin irritated from crying, he made the connection. 'Ginny bloody Weasley' He scoffed at her and turned his back to her. A few seconds later the sound of potions vials smashing on the floor filled the room and he turned to look at her. "Why'd you kill Percy?! Why?!" Her fists were clenched tightly as she stepped forward, stepping over the mess of glass and potions on the floor.

"That's a stupid question to ask, really. Now piss off and tell them I'm not eating anything laced with potions." On the floor besides a closet were spilled trays of food. He had caught several potions in his food and stopped eating until they were potionless.

In the week he was here, they tried several times more until he stabbed a house elf with a fork. The elves didn't clean his room after that, only delivering his food and so the other trays remained on the floor.

The moment he turned away from her, a fist collided with the back of his head. He shifted forward, allowing the second fist to miss him entirely and with a quick turn, shoved her away. 'Goddamned women and their habit of hitting me.' He stood up, flicking away the cigarette that had gotten crushed on her robe the moment he shoved her and cracked his neck to the side. "You're the second one to come in here and hit me. That's some very lousy treatment considering you were all so intent on dragging me back here." He smirked as her face went red with anger.

"You killed Percy! Killed him!"

"So what? He and the others with him killed two of my friends. And the smug bastard threatened to kill a third." Ginny stood up and moved forward, her fist swinging. Harry sidestepped and caught her arm, twisting it behind her to put her into an armlock. "You took your shot at me already. You're not getting another one." He waited for a few seconds before turning to the door with Ginny in front of him. She whimpered when he added pressure on her arm after she tried to squirm her way free.

Within moments, the room had several Order members crowding it. "Let her go, Potter. You don't want to hurt her." Harry's grip tightened a bit before he shoved her forward towards Moody. The grizzled man caught her with one hand while keeping his other hand with his wand trained on him. "That's a smart lad. Now take a seat, will you?" He motioned to the chair that lay on the floor with his wand.

***

Ginny was hustled out of the room quite quickly and only Kingsley, Moody, and Tonks remained with him. Harry picked the chair up and took a seat, leaning back on two legs as he watched Moody and the others. Moody was waiting for him to say something; playing the waiting game was nothing to Harry and so he sat there in silence staring. After 10 minutes of silence, Tonks huffed and stood up.

"Here." She threw a pack of cigarettes at Harry. They were reminded of his seeker skills when his arm blurred and caught the pack. They waited until he pulled a smoke out and looked around.

"Anyone got a light?" He smirked as Tonks huffed in irritation. Kingsley chuckled lightly and with a small flick of his wand, a bluebell flame hovered in front of Harry. "So what do you want? I know Dumbledore has you keeping me in here so that I can _realize_ that you all desperately need my help. So after the warehouse, Tonks and that little show with Ginny; well..." he shrugged his shoulder, taking a drag of the cigarette and letting the nicotine course through him.

"Convince me you need help. Convince me." He stared at them, no malice in his eyes, only a neutral expression.

"Still being a big headed arrogant brat, I see." Harry turned, facing the door where the cause of many of his life's problems stood. Not much had changed on the man other than a few scars on the his sallow white face and some grey peppering his greasy black hair. And the ever so familiar hooked nose and sneer remained. He swept into the room, sidestepping the table to stand before Harry, his eyes already trying to lock onto his.

He stood up slowly, standing face to face with Snape. Exhaling the lungful of smoke into Snape's face, he moved. One moment Snape was coughing due to smoke and the next, a fork was speared into his side. Moody, once again, got him with a _**petrificus totalus**_ even as Harry twisted the fork.

"You got my parents killed. You thought you got away with it. You thought wrong." Kingsley ran out of the room, in search of a medic while Tonks kept her wand on Harry. Moody's mechanical eye was permanently on Harry while he examined Snape's wound.

"You're a bloody danger even with a fork?" Tonks stared at him. Long gone was the gangly limbed and awkward teenager whose heart she'd torn apart a long time ago. In his place, a soldier now stood ready to kill and ready to die.

"In my business, you have to be dangerous with whatever's at hand." Harry said, as he was released from the spell that bound him. He watched Snape being taken to the hospital wing or wherever the hell the healers were. After a few moments, he grabbed his still lit cigarette from the floor and sat down again. Moody gave him a respectful nod, never having liked Snape in the first place, and Kingsley kept him in his wand sights at all times now.

"What the Ministry did at the Warehouse shouldn't have happened. That's why I argued against sending in _Weatherbee_ in the first place." A small smile made its way onto Harry's face at the name. He gestured for Moody to continue. "But we need your help Potter. No ands ifs or buts about it. They've gone to ground, only popping up to attack and the disappearing. And the ministry isn't helping much if any. Most of the known death eaters have the ministry's protection through bribery, lies and outright corruption."

Harry shook his head, exhaling a lungful of smoke into the air. "But that's where you all fucked up. You let Dumbledore and the Ministry meddle with my affairs instead of nailing the bastards that are running around inside your government." After a few moments, he flicked the cigarette butt away towards a corner where others lay. "Here's a bit of information for you. Did you wonder why I hit a death eater safe house? It wasn't just because of the girl, it was because me and the people I work with were getting ready to move on all the scum that felt untouchable thanks to your corrupt government."

Moody grimaced. Kingsley stayed stoic and Tonks cursed loudly. "Now do you see what the problem is? You fucked over the people that were trying to help you." Silence reigned for a few more minutes before the door banged open and in came two familiar Weasleys. One in all his scarred glory and the other stocky, eyes that once were alight with mischief, deadened as he stared at Harry.

"Dumbledore's coming to speak with you, Harry." Fred gave him a small nod after speaking, a rather quiet greeting from the once high-spirited twin. Ron only glared at Harry before he walked out of the room. Moody started to stand before Harry spoke up.

"Before the old man comes down here, I want to know something." Moody waited, his blue eye swiveling around as it surveyed the room and the outside of it. "I'm pretty sure you know why the old man wants me back so desperately. Knowing that the death eaters will never take you alive is a good reason enough for Dumbledore to have told you."

Moody nodded, his mouth twisted into a feral grin even as the others in the room looked confused.

"But does everyone else know why?"

Moody shook his head but before he could elaborate, the door opened once more. Only this time, Dumbledore entered.

A/N: _Never have liked Snape so I kinda might've enjoyed the fork scene … see you all at the next one… _


	4. Chapter 4

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

By: AGX[tail]

Chapter 4: Tactical. Magical. Espionage. Shooter.

***

"Finally decided to drop by and pay me a visit, old man?"

Dumbledore conjured a squashy purple recliner with a flick of his wand before taking a seat. With another flick, he vanished Harry's cigarette. "Those aren't good for your health, Harry."

"Neither is all the candy you pop into your maw, but you never seen me vanishing the shit." Harry glared at the older man across the table. He pulled out another smoke and then he cursed. 'Goddamn it, this'll suck.' Slowly, he started pooling some of his magic into his hand until he managed to conjure a flame. Unfortunately, the flame blasted up and torched his cigarette, singeing his eyebrows.

"Fuck!" The flames disappeared and the magic that fueled them flowed back into his body. After a few moments of glaring at his right hand, he tossed the pack of smokes on the table. Dumbledore was staring at him intently or rather, at his right hand.

"An amazing display of magic, even if it went out of control." Dumbledore was really surprised. What Harry had just done was nothing short of amazing; managing to bring his magic out of his body without a wand and to concentrate it into a flame. It wasn't wandless magic, that he was sure of, but another type. The night Harry had been retrieved (he wouldn't admit to himself that it was kidnapping), he had seen some powerful spells used by the young man, spells that he had no knowledge of.

"Whatever. My magic hasn't recovered enough for me to be able to control it as precisely as I want it to."

'His magic hasn't recovered?' He leaned forward slightly, fingers intertwined together as he sent out a small probe of legillimency toward Harry. He flinched when he encountered protections on his mind, their strength enough to bat his probe away and the cause of his visible signs of surprise. "Don't do that again." He was met with a flat stare and magic pulsed in the air making it feel like a heavy fog. After a few moments, the magic once again flowed back inside Harry's body and there was silence.

Dumbledore turned and motioned to the Aurors in the room to exit. After everyone left, he flicked his wand and set up several privacy wards around the room. "Harry, you've made a terrible mistake, leaving as you did." He would've said more but he was surprised when the young man in question started laughing. After a few minutes of laughter, he interrupted him. "Many lives have been lost since then, surely you-"

"Not my fault," Harry cut him off, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet on the table. "You know damn well why I left and it was justified. And as for me making a mistake; well, you've made a bigger one."

Dumbledore was puzzled. Certain things he had overheard through the charm on the room before entering clicked. It was a surprise that Voldemort hadn't tried to establish a powerbase in other countries especially one as large as the United States and it made sense now. "What have you been doing?"

"Killing Death Eaters that try and start up any type of bases in other countries. You can have a few memories if you'd like. I'm sure you'll enjoy them…" Dumbledore quickly conjured up several vials, standing and drawing his wand. After several silver threads of memory lay in the glass containers, he quickly pocketed them. One thing that unnerved Dumbledore was that he couldn't feel any of the ambient magic that a regular witch or wizard exuded and so he brought it up.

"Harry, what is wrong with your magic? I clearly saw you only cast two spells and you've mentioned that it hasn't recovered. What does that mean?" Harry chuckled. He had been expecting that and with great relish, he lifted his right hand off the table. Holding it in the air, up to the candle light, a small glint of gold and platinum hit Dumbledore's eyes. It was a ring, a simple band of overlapped gold and platinum but onto its front was a strange carving; it wasn't a rune or at least any that he had ever seen and he'd seen many runes in his past.

"It's currently on lock down. I can only force so much magic out before I have to recover and it leaves my control over my magic for weaker spells shot to shit." Harry grinned as the old man's eyes widened. The ring had been a gift and what a useful one it was, since it kept him off the Ministry of Magic's radar along with all of Dumbledore's assorted trinkets that should've been keeping track of him and his location.

"You must remove it at once!"

"Can't. I'm not the one who set up the bindings on it." Harry shrugged. Dumbledore sighed, before standing up once more. He had to think of a way to remove the ring and he had memories to view. He mentally winced when he remembered all the letters sitting on his desk, all addressed to him from the Prime Minister. Things were definitely not going the way he'd hoped they would've gone now that Harry was back.

"I must bid you a good night, Harry. You've given me enough to think about." With a quick nod, the old man walked out of the room. Several seconds after the old man left, Harry burst into laughter. He had left Dumbledore unsettled and that was great in his book. Now all there was to it, was to bide his time. Either the old man would come back and ready to deal or STALKER would show up. While he preferred the latter, he was going to have to deal with Dumbledore sooner or later and he much preferred sooner.

***

"Nicolai Konstantin." The heavy set man stared at the door. His body guards were dead, silenced gunshots to keep him from knowing until it was too late. He saw the STALKER logo across the front of the tactical vest but he failed to realize what it meant and why they were after him. Harry could see it as he stepped forward. "Christu told me everything." He grabbed the man by the throat, dragging him further into the room only stopping to kick the door closed. It wouldn't do to have any interruptions.

Harry watched impassively as the man sneered, trying to wrench himself free of the grip on his neck. Without hesitation, Harry flung the man into the windows at the end of the office. His magic lending him the strength for such an act. With a loud crunch and a wet smear of blood, Nicolai slid to the floor.

"Shatterproof windows." Harry observed before he picked Nicolai up again, only this time locking eyes with him. With the subtly of a bull in a china shop, he sent a spike of legillimency into his target's head. When he was quite done, the whimpering sobbing wreck flew towards the window once more. His impact leaving another smear of blood as his face slid down.

Harry yanked a winter landscape portrait off the wall, revealing a safe. A few minutes of emptying the safe, he turned to Nicolai who continued to lie on the ground. "P-p-please d-d-don't! I-i-it was ju-st bu-sines-s..."

"Your business sells poison to kids. You deal in murder, extortion, prostitution and drugs. You're a fucking slaver. And the worst part is you use it to fund Death Eaters." Harry yanked out a smoke from the pack, lighting it with an expensive jewelry encrusted lighter in the safe. He left a few files in the safe before turning to the man curled up on the floor. "If there's anyone to blame here, it's you for accepting Lucius Malfoy's offer."

Nicolai started sobbing and pleading as Harry walked over to him. "Stop being a bitch. If I hadn't been hired for this, then Frank Castle himself would've killed you."

He lifted the pleading man and this time, with a tight grip on the right arm; he spun and launched the heavy figure at the window, watching as it bent and flew out of its frame. As the glass pane and Nicolai hurtled through air and towards the ground, he chuckled. That was the funny thing about shatterproof windows, hit them hard enough and often enough and the frames gave out. 'Time for lunch.'

***  
Dumbledore was saddened at the brutality he'd seen in the memory. Part of that sadness stemmed from the fact that the Harry in the memory didn't look any older than 18. Dumbledore had managed to catch a glimpse at the papers inside the safe, outlining money transfers to Gringotts along with the details to start up a cell of death eaters in the United States. Plans that had all failed due to Harry's intervention.

He sighed before pouring the next memory into the pensive and diving in.  
***

"You called, Major?" Harry walked into his boss' office. Having been pulled away from his usual late night clean out everyone's pockets poker routine, he was curious. Sitting on the desk, kicking her feet idly was a 10 year old blonde girl. Dressed in a black dress with black dress shoes and white stockings, she met his eyes and gave him a predatory smile. Bright blue eyes met jade green and the world seemed to swirl around him.

"Oh, you're very strong. You could be a very powerful _minister magi_." The fangs that emerged from her mouth as they elongated brought Harry back. With a jerk, he brought up his gun, emptying half a clip into the vampire's direction. He felt her move, leaning back enough to avoid a decapitating uppercut, instead feeling the fist impact upon his solar plexus, lifting him off his feet and through the open door behind him.

"Oh, fuck this!" He unholstered his special gun only for someone to snatch it from his hands. He looked up and found himself staring at his boss. Who proceeded to remove the explosive ordinance clip and slide it into her pocket. She glared at him and dropped the empty gun on his chest.

"You don't want to blow up my office." The Major turned and looked at the blonde, who was once again sitting on the desk, playing with a pair of the bullets Harry fired at her. "And you. I'd prefer it if you don't attack my officers."

"Cade, meet Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell." Harry grunted, glaring at the vampire brat. It turned out that there was a mission for him and she was the customer. Which was a rarity since the Major didn't meet with those that solicited their service. The Major brought a few photographs and laid them on the table, several of them pictures of a dilapidated mansion.

"There is a coven of vampires living here. No more than 20, but they represent some of big vampire families in Europe. And Riddle has been sending envoys to them to try and get them to side with him." Several more pictures went on the table. Those showed a variety of dead bodies, headless and drained of blood from the looks of it.

"I want them destroyed." The amused look in Evangeline's eyes disappeared, replaced with cold steel. "They are planning on binding their clans to Voldemort, if he can promise them all the blood and death they could ever want."

"Why don't you do it?"

"Because, I don't like destroying trash. It bores me." Evangeline sniffed at him, smiling once more as she felt the trace amounts of bloodlust leaking from the boy sitting in front of her. "Consider this. I know who you are and what you are. I'll train you in some of my ways if you succeed on the job and live."

Harry stiffened in his seat. His boss knew who and what he was because he had told her and because of the very through background check they had run on him when he first joined **STALKER**. And with the damn scar adorning his forehead, it wasn't hard for anyone else that knew the going on's in the magical world of Britain to recognize him. It still made him uncomfortable without a doubt, but the girl in front of him was offering him training.

"Sure. I'll take the job and afterwards, I'll take you up on that offer."

"Good." Evangeline purred, her eyes glowing a dull black for a moment.

***  
He met his contact in a bar in the city of Prague. He'd be guided to the house by a vampire loyal only to the money being paid to him. It took almost an hour for the other members of his six man team to set up their own vantage points to examine the layout of the house. The garish green glow of the night vision goggles filled his eyes as he examined the house. He put the goggles down when he felt the back of his neck prickling. The damn vampire was doing it again.

He turned around and glared at the pasty skinned creature.

"What the hell are you staring at, vamp? Keep licking your lips and looking at me like I'm a fucking snack and I'll kill you." Harry was irritated, very irritated. Even after all the bullshit that he'd been put through, here he was, preparing to fuck over one of Voldemort's plans. To tell the truth, the only reason he was doing all this was for himself and not the bloody sheep that inhabited the British wizarding world. They deserved whatever fate that Voldemort had in store for them. His reason? Simple. At the end of summer before the start of his 6th year at Hogwarts, he went shopping for his school supplies along with the Weasleys, when the crowds of Diagon Alley tried to kill him!

If it had been Death Eaters, then he could've shrugged it off as normal. Well, as normal as the constant threats to his life could be called normal.

But Riddle had an even better idea. Why go through all the trouble of killing him when he could get the sheep to do it for him? It took away the pleasure of him being the one to end the Boy-Who-Lived's life, but the idea in itself gave him another twisted pleasure. Imagine that, the very people that Harry Potter fought to save, trying to kill him.

And it hadn't even been a devious plan; no shadow games or nothing. Just a simple decree posted on the front gates of the Ministry of Magic.

_**The person or persons that kill Harry Potter and bring me his head shall receive 2 million galleons. Your safety and that of any family is guaranteed. – Lord Voldemort**_

So when the sheep tried it, it had gotten messy. Harry had gotten a few books from the Black library, things that Dumbledore and Mother Weasley wouldn't have approved being near him never mind being in his possession. He'd learned vicious curses and hexes; many border lining on being dark if not outright dark, things that he'd never taught to the D.A. and didn't have plans on teaching.

So when the Aurors arrived and managed to disperse the crowd, taking many into custody, they'd found various dead people. All fallen to the wand of Harry Potter, who was bruised, bloody and hurt but alive even as a few of the remaining fools died slowly. After that, he was a murderer, no better than Voldemort according to the public, the ministry and of course the Daily Prophet.

And couple that with the whole maiming Lupin thing afterwards, with his friends jumpy and scared to be around him and Tonks ripping his heart out for the goddamned werewolf, he'd had enough. So he left. Left them to fight their own war and get their own hands soaked with the blood of their enemies. But now, here he was making sure that the idiots didn't let Voldemort amass more power. And this fucking vampire wasn't making things easier for him.

"Idiot childe. Learn your place before your better or else, lose your life." The voice was laced with scorn, disdain and of course ridicule. He was one of the older vampires; from around the 1500's and upwards. An old, cocky and powerful bastard of a vampire. And of course, Harry's reaction was not the one the vampire wanted.

"I've met face to face with the Maga Nosferatu Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell herself, you don't even measure up to her." Casually dropping the name of one of the strongest magic wielding vampires in the world rattled the bloodsucker. The vampire met the high daylight walker once in his lifetime and he'd been lucky to live. "You're not my better."

Harry gave him a feral smile, taking pleasure in watching the puffed up vampire back down. He turned to face the house once more, using his night vision goggles to give it one last look before tapping the comm device on his ear. "If the vamps get too close, you have flash bangs and it also means you might get to try out these new and shiny ultraviolet knifes. Time to earn those paychecks." He stood up and stretched for a few seconds.

His guide stood as well, dusting off his pants as he eyed his customer one last time. "I bid you good luck." It sneered as it turned to leave. The red laser sight that appeared on his chest stopped him.

"You're a liability… so die." The vampire's eyes widened before the gun rounds punched into its chest, only the slight coughing sound of the silenced gun rang out. Harry eyed the creature as bluish purple light started filtering through its wounds and the body incinerated itself.

"I love ultraviolet ammunition."

***

The old headmaster sat at his desk staring at the pensieve on the desk. The memories provided by Harry proved to be enlightening, so to speak. Especially the memories pertaining to Evangeline McDowell. It was certainly surprising to find a magic wielding vampire of that caliber, especially magic that was wild like the elements used to power the spells. Only when the floo flared green and the minister's head appeared in the fire, did he snap out of his pensive state. "Albus! The muggle prime minister is demanding your presence immediately!"

Dumbledore sighed in resignation before standing. As much stalling as he'd done, there was no viable and polite way to keep delaying his meeting with the Prime Minister. He floo'd to the minister's office and from there, he took a special portkey to the prime minister's office. He was immediately faced by a thin, silvered haired man with a hard look in his eyes.

"Do you know what you've done? What your actions have cost the United Kingdom of Britain?"

Dumbledore arched an eyebrow, the customary all knowing twinkle in his eye disappearing as he waited for the man to elaborate.

"You have lost Britain the services of one of the world's best mercenary force. You have cost us millions of pounds spent on operations that as of now, are cancelled and with no way of getting that money back!" The man took a drink from the glass of amber alcohol on the desk before him, ignoring the burn of the whiskey as he continued. "You promised that no one would be hurt and last week, I was personally visited by the commanding officer of the unit to inform me that two of their soldiers are dead! Dead!"

"We didn't intend for them to die, Mr. Pennyworth. We were only trying to convince Mr. Potter to come back and help us." He was cut off by a snort from the man, who proceeded to finish his drink and slam the glass back on the oak wood desk.

"It's bad enough your people cannot curtail your own terrorist's actions and that we regular people are the heaviest affected by them but now this?" The older man sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. There were times in his life when he'd wondered if he should've retired after serving in the RAF and British Secret Service. There were plenty of jobs offered to him when he planning on retiring, including one from an old friend of his, Thomas Wayne. Lately, he was regretting having passed on the job offer from Thomas.

"There's nothing else to be done at the moment but I was given a warning for you that I shall pass on."

Dumbledore expected such a thing. And he was not surprised when the words left Mr. Pennyworth's mouth.

"They are coming for their man and you'll have hell to pay. Now, you know the way out. Use it."

***

"So how do we remove the ring, Harry?" Dumbledore looked at him inquisitively from the door, wearing a harried look that had Harry sure it wasn't his fault. But if it was, then it was job well done. Harry looked up from the food he was eating, giving the headmaster a pointed look before returning to his meal. After making a show of eating his last few bites of food with great relish, he finally pushed the plate away from himself and looked at the headmaster.

"So? What's so urgent that you tried to interrupt my meal?" Harry pushed the pitcher of pumpkin juice back and away from himself; reaching instead for the pitcher of water that sat at the other side of the table. Dumbledore entered the room and was closely followed by Professor McGonagall. Harry waited until they were both sitting before facing them.

"The ring, Mr. Potter. How do we remove the ring?" Professor McGonagall reiterated the headmaster's question and giving Harry a disapproving look at lack of proper respect in addressing the headmaster.

"We don't remove anything. Only master Eva can remove this ring." Harry smirked when both McGonagall and Dumbledore looked at each other before turning back to him.

"Can you contact Miss McDowell? To see if she can come and remove it?" Harry snorted at that, cutting off McGonagall before she could continue and ignoring the glare that she gave him.

"No, can't do that."

"Surely she can spare some time on such an important matter?" Again, it was McGonagall asking. Harry had already caught onto their tactic already, wondering if Dumbledore was supposed to be the bad cop in the routine. 'Dumbledore playing bad cop? That happens when Malfoy stops being obsessed with his hair.' And that wasn't happening anytime soon, if his contacts had been correct when he'd last talked to them a few months back.

"There's many reasons as to why she can't and won't come down here, so I won't even bother getting into that. Plus, she's a vampire and I'm pretty sure Dumbledore isn't willing to put the students here in school at risk." McGonagall spluttered for a few moments, but what really made him laugh was the surprised look in the headmaster eyes. He was correct in assuming that they believed their location to be a secret from him.

"Where is she located? If I may ask?" This time the old man stepped up to bat, seeing as McGonagall wasn't in the correct state to continue with the questions.

"Japan and that's all you're getting out of me at this moment." After five long minutes of silence, the headmaster left along with professor McGonagall, leaving behind a pensive Harry.

Dumbledore would come back and he would authorize his trip to Mahora City. Harry was certain of that; all he had to do was sit and wait. Meanwhile, he found himself wondering what he could do to amuse himself. He looked around the room and a wide smile crossed his face when he found his solution.

***

"It's Harry! He's escaped!" Hermione had gone down to visit him, to speak with him to try and catch up with him. So when she found the room empty, she sounded out the alarm throughout headquarters. As many of the newer members had heard the fate that befell the first team that tried to bring Harry back, well they were understandably worried. As both Bill and Kingsley examined the wards of the room to try and find out how they'd been bypassed, a very annoyed Moody stumped into view. Without a word, the grizzled auror went inside and after a few moments, left cursing like a sailor.

"Who was the idiot that sounded the alarm without checking the room properly?!" The sonorous charm attached to his voice echoed throughout the area. Hermione slowly approached him and after a few seconds of hearing him verbally abuse her, she got frustrated and annoyed.

"Harry's gone! Why are you here insulting me when you could be looking for him along with the others?" Her indignant reply got her a withering glare and Moody pointed towards the room. Both Bill and Kingsley poked their heads inside after she went in only to see a box shaking and familiar laughter echoing from inside it.

"Harry James Potter!" The box shook ever harder and it served to annoy Hermione to no end. Seeing as it didn't seem like Harry would grow up at anytime soon, she pulled out her wand and vanished the box only to be met by a laughing and crouched Harry Potter. When he noticed the box gone, he frowned and stood up, taking a few breaths before turning to face Hermione.

"You know, I saw the box thing in a game, but I always thought someone would have to be pretty blind and stupid to fall for it… So, look at me being surprised when you fall for it along with a good portion of the Order." The stinging hex that flew at him missed by a fair margin when he moved out of the way. He was still chuckling when she sat down in a huff. "Oh, come on, it was pretty funny!"

Hermione had grown into a pretty woman, Harry couldn't deny that, but it seemed that she hadn't changed much. "Oh, don't give me that looks, I'm not going to start in on you like Tonks or Ginny." Harry arched an eyebrow at her, pointing silently to the wand that she still clutched and mimed a spell being fired. A small hint of redness spread across her sun darkened cheeks as she huffed. "That was for the box thing. And don't think I don't know what game the idea came from!"

Harry shrugged his shoulders and leaned back on his chair. "So, what brings you to my fine, wonderful abode?" Insert sarcasm and false cheer.

A/N: _I couldn't help the box thing... since apparently, someone shipped himself out of jail in a box… so it works! See you all at the next one…_


	5. Chapter 5

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

By: AGX[tail]

Chapter 5: Road Trip…

***

Hermione stood up and for a few moments stayed quiet before she launched herself at Harry. "Can't say I expected this…" Harry muttered as Hermione wrapped him in one of her trademark lung crushing hugs, burying her head into his shoulder which served to muffle her voice. After a few moments of her incoherent mumbling, she felt a stinging slap to his back quickly followed by another one. He winced as he let her vent for a few moments longer before pulling back and holding her at arms length. "You hit me." He deadpanned.

"I'm sorry! But you've been a great prat, running off the way you did!" Hermione huffed at him before hugging him again. "It really is great to see you again…" She separated from him and took a seat at the table and with a quick flick of her wand, she conjured a tea service. "You've changed a lot…" she went slightly red "You look good, Harry."

She earned a grin at that comment. "Why, thanks Hermione. You've done some maturing as well." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively earning himself a roll of her eyes and a huff. As she prepared herself and Harry tea, she couldn't help but smile at him. He was her best friend once in her life and even though he had left with no warning, she still considered him a friend. "So how've you been Hermione? Other than the whole war situation…"

"I have been alright. Things could be better but then again, they could be worse."

When she didn't elaborate, Harry took it as a sign that she didn't really want to talk about it. He shrugged, deciding not to push the issue considering Hermione might be the only person that he'd be able to actually have a conversation without someone hitting him through it. Well, hitting him more than the usual _you're being a git_ slaps that Hermione was known to dole out every once in a while during their time in Hogwarts.

"So, you work as a mercenary? How is that working out for you?"

"I get paid to travel any where and everywhere to kill people. It's working out good." Hermione stared at him, as if expecting for him to laugh and deny his words. But that denial never came and she received a grin from the ebony haired man sitting across the table from her. "Sorry if it bothers you. But I'm doing the exact same thing I would've been doing here in this country, except I'm doing it world wide."

"And what's that?" She was curious. Hermione wanted to know what kind of justification he had for killing people. She, herself, wasn't a saint; she'd killed an over eager death eater recruit but it had really weighed down on her. From what she saw, Harry killed and that was that, with no second thoughts or hesitations.

"Every life I take means that one more innocent lives to see another day." His eyes were full of certainty and his voice radiated conviction as he spoke those words. "That's a lot of what **STALKER** does. Some country decides it has big enough balls to invade its neighbors for no reason and the ones who suffer are the ones with nothing to do in the conflict. Homes are destroyed and lives are lost. And that's why I enjoy my work as a mercenary."

Silence reigned for a few minutes as Hermione searched for something else to talk about. She heard him grunt something but didn't really understand it. "What was that?"

"Ron." After a few moments, he elaborated. "What happened to that idiot?"

"When you left, he decided that it was up to him to lead the gryffindors against anything Slytherin. Of course, Malfoy couldn't help but be his usual self and with Snape protecting Malfoy, Ron got frustrated. Everyone knew that the way things were going, that they were going to fight each other." Hermione fiddled with her sleeve as she stared at the wall. Harry guessed that she somehow felt guilty for whatever had happened and he was pretty sure he knew what happened. "Malfoy was getting training from Snape along with the training his father gave him and while Ron had what he learned under you, it wasn't enough. That's where all those scars on his face are from."

"But my question is… what's his beef with me?" Hermione looked puzzled for a moment and Harry sighed. Too much time spent in the wizarding world and not enough spent in the normal world. "I mean, what's his problem with me?"

"Oh, well, I think he's like that because you never tried to teach us any of the other spells that you knew." Harry snorted. Of all the stupid things the red headed prat could be using as some excuse to dislike him, that was the stupidest. "I told him you probably did but for good rea-" She stopped talking when she saw Harry arch an eyebrow at her. "Well, it's true. He's prone to acting rashly and if you taught him any of the spells you used in Diagon Alley… well, it would've been a disaster."

"And of course, his hands and eyes would've fallen off if he had picked up a book to learn spells from?" Harry rolled his eyes. Sometimes, he wondered why the hell he'd gotten to be best friends with Ron. A small buzzing filled the room and Harry looked up, watching as Hermione jumped in surprise. She blushed slightly when she pulled out a small compact mirror and flipped it open, listening for a few moments to the muttered instructions before replying with a quick "Of course."

She closed the mirror and stood up, walking around the table and giving Harry another hug. "I really am glad to see you again Harry. I have to go for now, but I'll be back."

"Don't worry about it… I'll be here all week." Goddamned cage, that's what the room was. But freedom was coming soon. Very soon.

***

"We both know that you're not allowed to enter certain magical countries after the entire mess that World War II was, so who's going to be my minder?" Harry lay on the bed, using his hands as a pillow as he stared at the stone ceiling. As much as he wanted them to piss off, all of them, he had to take care of Voldemort. If not for the wizards then at least for the normal people that died and never knew why they died. The people that had nothing to do with the war but were currently the biggest targets in it. That and Voldemort would start looking for him again eventually and once that started, he wouldn't have any peace until snake face was dead and buried.

As much as he hated to admit it, this whole situation was on his shoulders. It might not be the weight of the world on his shoulders but it was the weight of at least a country full of innocents. Well, innocent to a certain degree, but innocents none the less. He looked up at the spectacled old man that watched him from a chair by the table. Dumbledore had cracked and it had only taken another day of waiting.

"I have decided that Auror Tonks and Miss Granger should accompany you." Harry sat up, meeting the headmaster's gaze with a look of incredulity. Seeing the obvious question in Harry's eye, Dumbledore cleared his throat before elaborating slightly. "Nymphadora's abilities can be of great use to you and Miss Granger's knowledge should be of value."

"Do I get my weapons back?" Harry glared at the man even as he was denied his guns. "I can't babysit them without some kind of weapon…"

"I find myself having doubts as to that, Harry. But the reason I cannot return your firearms is because they were left behind." Dumbledore popped a lemon drop into his mouth, relishing the taste of the candy as Harry glared at him. "Hmm? Did you say something?" The question was answered with a negligent wave of Harry's hand, proffering to ignore the batty old man. "You depart in two days time."

With a last good bye, Dumbledore stood up and headed out of the room, leaving behind a pensive Harry.

***

"I'm not travelling through the floo. That shit is uncomfortable and annoying." Harry stared at the two women facing him, arms crossed on his chest as he gave his final thoughts on the matter. "And if you insist, then go on ahead and I'll toddle off to my cell to wait for my friends." He chuckled as Hermione gave an annoyed huff and Tonks shot him a menacing glare… or at least her attempt at one. It was kind of hard to glare at someone in a menacing fashion if it made you look undeniably cute. The staring continued before Hermione gave another huff and walked off; headed in the direction of the International Floo station exit and into the airport.

"This is going to take forever." Tonks muttered, once all three of them secured tickets for the next outbound flight to Tokyo.

Harry was browsing through a magazine as they walked in the direction of the waiting area. After making themselves comfortable in the plastic seats in the waiting area, Harry leaned over and rested his head on Tonks' shoulders. She stiffened, turning her head slowly to face Harry or at least his hair. "What are you doing?" She whispered, her eyes glinting with what Harry assumed to be anger.

Harry yawned and after putting his feet on Hermione's lap, he closed his eyes. Ignoring the muttered protests from Hermione, he spoke quietly to Tonks, his voice cutting through the din of noise all around him. "We've picked up a tail. That's the reason why I didn't want to take the floo." Tonks shifted and Harry nudged her slightly with his right hand. "Don't move and don't act obvious. Unless you want me to kill the tag along in the middle of a crowded airport."

Tonks sighed, relaxing back in her chair even as Harry slid his head onto her lap, using her legs as a pillow. "Don't worry too much about the rat; I'll clean it up in a bit." Tonks looked down at him, her face twisted into a frown for a few moments before she assumed a carefree expression. A few minutes later, Harry was getting irritated with her. "Leave my hair alone."

"You're using me as a pillow." Tonks gave him a cold smile and her hands kept on twisting a few of the strands into a braid.

"Let's not forget that your legs are on me." Hermione deadpanned, her hand pointing down indicating the obvious.

Harry sighed before standing up, stopping a moment to straighten out his black button down dress shirt. "I'll be right back, I'm going to the restroom."

Tonks made to stand only to get an amused look from Harry. "Are you planning on watching me while I piss too?"

"Eugh!" Tonks groaned and Hermione grimaced before they both turned away from him. Harry smirked and with a jaunty wave, he walked off in search of the _loo_. Being back in Britain and listening to the lingo used by his own people; well, it made him realize exactly why everyone always chuckled every time he spoke before he'd carefully blurred out his accent and started using standard english. He chuckled as he reached the exit to the waiting area and turned the corner, catching a glimpse of his follower in one of the mirrored walls across the hall.

"Clean up time…" Harry muttered as he entered the bathroom. Quickly securing himself in one of the stalls, he waited and after a few minutes a curtain of silence fell over the room as the door opened and closed. 'Silencing the room… bad idea.' The footsteps and the tell tale whisking sound of a robe made it to his ears as the first stall opened. Harry closed his eyes and after a few seconds his magic poured out and enveloped the room, creating a primitive anti-portkey and anti-apparition ward.

The door to his stall was yanked open and there stood a familiar death eater. Thomas Yaxley. The man's scarred visage was twisted into a sneer as he leveled his wand against Harry. "Come out boy. My master would like to speak with you." A smile appeared on Harry's face as he stepped out of the stall with his hands in the air. "Throw me your wand." Harry arched an eyebrow at the order before shaking his head. "I have no time to play games with you! Throw me your wand, Potter!"

Harry shrugged and his left hand slipped into his jean's pocket, curling around the cylindrical outline visible there. His smile turned into a smirk as he lunged forward, tilting his head to the right to avoid the purple-green hue of a bone breaker. Yaxley gave surprised shout as he felt something punch into his wrist and through, losing mobility and control of his right hand as his wand fell to the floor. The fist that was aimed at Harry's head missed and gave Harry an opening for him to grip it at the wrist and with a sharp palm thrust to the elbow, the bone broke with a meaty snap.

Following the arm break, Harry stepped back before snapping out with a quick sidekick to Yaxley's knee. In one fluid motion, he ground his boot onto the bigger man's foot and stepped forward, snapping out with a pair of jabs to the kidney that doubled over his opponent. The right cross that smashed into Yaxley's face took him out of the equation. "The idiot should've remembered that I'm the one that scarred him in the first place…" Harry yanked out the purple fine point gel pen out of Yaxley's wrist, trying unsuccessfully to shake the blood off before giving it up as a lost cause and sinking it into the man's eye until it bit deep into brain tissue.

The wand on the floor worked enough for him to cast a few cleaning charms on himself, overpowering them to the point where his skin felt like it'd been scrubbed very thoroughly. With a sharp crack, Harry snapped the wand in half and walked out of the restroom, leaving behind a corpse in a bathroom with a notice-me-not spell that Yaxley himself must've put up. A grin spread across Harry's face as he heard the name of his flight being called, just as he entered the waiting area. As they stood, there were several oddly dressed people that rushed passed the doors, leaving behind many mystified muggles. "I wonder what their rush is?" Hermione looked at Harry flatly, having already realized that Harry had gotten rid of the man trailing them.

***

The manor looked dilapidated on the outside. Windows broken, shingles falling from the roof and the walls scarred by age and mischievous kids that tried their hand at exploring and breaking in to the place. A place that many teenagers had used for tests of courage, as well as a hangout spot at various times since it's original owners died. The old caretaker, with his aging bones, tried to stop them and tried keeping the place in good shape but it just wasn't enough. Now, though, since the old caretaker had died, the land outside had ... run wild, so to speak. The grass that had been meticulously cut and groomed was now a ragged sea and the yard looked like a dumping ground for trash.

Or so it seemed to everyone else. No one bothered with the place since the old caretaker had died. After all, it was hard to care about a place you couldn't remember and if even if it could be, then it couldn't have been approached anyway.

Inside, it was another story altogether. The entire house had been covered in dust, grime and dirt; various corners and rooms filled with empty bottles and trash. Walls had been damaged, the remains of old paintings covered in graffiti and the once comfortable and expensive furniture that filled it, damaged if not utterly destroyed. But now... Now the walls were cleaned, trash gone and of course it was furnished with antique furniture. Walls were repaired and so were the floors and every other nook, cranny and hiding place possible.

A black robed figure walked down, his normal swaggering stride rushed. The silence in that particular part of the house broken only by the slight whisk sound that his robes made with every step. At the end of the hallway was a black door, plain and unadorned, usually the type that was unworthy of caution. But not this one, this one brought dread to whom ever disturbed the room's inhabitant. The death eater stopped, pausing to shake his hand for a bit before curling it into a fist and knocking lightly.

"Enter..." The voice was cruel, cold and imperial; the words spoken with a sibilant hiss that was barely audible. Inside was what amounted to a small library, with dark oak bookshelves filled with numerous books, scrolls and rolls of parchments. A fire crackled inside, trying and failing desperately to dispel the chill that seemed to permeate the room along with the rest of the house.

The death eater was quick to kneel before the figure sitting on a high back armchair, crawling forward to kiss the black robes before him. Voldemort couldn't help but enjoy the spike of fear that lanced through the man's mind the brief moment that his cold red eyes met with those of the death eater. "Tell me... what news do you bring?" Snape had brought news to him, more than a week before, confirming what he'd learned from his spies in the ministry. Harry Potter was back and in contact with the wizarding world. A cruel smile had snaked its way onto his lips the moment he'd learned that. What's more, the Boy-Who-Lived's return was heralded with the death of two dozen aurors, a blow to the ministry that helped his cause.

"My lord... Yaxley is dead. His body was found in the muggle airport facility outside of the International Floo Terminal." The words rushed out of the kneeling man along with a small flinch when Voldemort's hand twitched slightly. After a few moments of silence, Voldemort looked down at the kneeling figure and carelessly waved him away. A smile appeared on his lips at the small sigh that escaped his follower's lips almost involuntarily as he moved to exit the room quickly.

With a negligent flick of his wand and a "_crucio,_" the black robed figure collapsed before the door, twitching and screaming in pain. "Go..." The whimpering man stood up, and rushed out of the room as fast he could in his current condition.

"Yaxley is a loss that will be difficult to replace... but he was a mad dog since Potter ruined his face. Harry Potter, I shall enjoy our next encounter..." A laugh erupted from Voldemort's lips as thunder crashed outside.

***

"I hate you so much…" A bleary eyed Tonks stumbled into the room, pausing only to toss her wand onto the stand next to the bed before collapsing face first into it. A few minutes later she was dead to the world as she sunk into dreamland. Hermione rolled her eyes at the overdramatic witch before going into the restroom to change into a pair of comfortable pajamas and taking the bed next to Tonks' bed.

"Can you conjure me a bed? I seem to have been forgotten about…" Harry arched an eyebrow at Hermione, who rolled to her side and after a few moments, slept. "Oh, fuck this... I'm not sleeping on the floor..." Harry muttered, grabbing up Tonks' discarded wand and after a few tries, managed to get a reaction from it.

***

"Ughh…" Tonks let out a groan, turning her face deeper into her pillow as the blinds in the room rolled up automatically, allowing the bright sunshine to pour inside. The ringing of an alarm soon followed and she groaned even louder as she tried to bury her head under her pillow. Tonks was never a morning person. Never. She went as far as to dislike early risers, wondering how the hell they did it every day. It was and always would be a mystery.

Her eyes snapped open when she realized someone was squeezing her breast. "Who the fuck?!" She turned around and was met with a groggy looking Hermione who gave her one last squeeze before reality caught up with her. Her hand snapped back quickly and her cheeks were suffused in scarlet as she stuttered through an apology.

And of course, Harry laughing was what brought her out of her stuttering as she whirled around to see the green eyed man eating and laughing from small couch that ran along the wall across from the beds. Harry grabbed a bottle of soy sauce, dumping a copious amount on his white rice before grabbing his fork and continuing his meal. As much as she tried, she couldn't get back to sleep so after a while she sat up in bed, her eyes half closed and a drowsy look in her eyes as she glared at Harry.

It was after her shower and after breakfast that she realized there was something different about the Harry Potter she was looking at. "You've got earrings!" Hermione, who'd been staring at them for a while, nodded in agreement even as Harry rolled his eyes at them both. He tweaked his earrings, 5 multicolored horseshoe earrings on his left ear and 4 on the right ear, making sure that they took notice of them. "Two pairs give me a small shield, won't block a friggin heavy curse but it'll drain it somewhat and a few others do a few things including translation spells." It was after he showered and got dressed that they left the hotel, with Tonks groaning for breakfast after she'd been unable to eat anything brought to the rooms.

***

"Hey! Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Tonks jogged forward, managing to stumble on the slick tile flooring of the hotel's entranceway. It took her a few moments after that to catch up to the long strides that Harry was taking, with a peeved Hermione next to him as well. Harry looked at her and smirked, watching as her face slowly lit up with the red hue of her blush as she remembered the rather compromising position she'd woken up in.

"I'm not lesbian and not bisexual. And what you saw this morning was just an accident." Hermione seemed to go redder and even Tonks stayed silent, decidedly trying to forget about her rude morning wake up.

"Oh, come on. How many times have I heard that excuse? _It's only an accident. I wasn't groping you._" He tried his hand at imitating her, earning himself a punch to the shoulder from both women. Really. It wasn't his fault they'd ended up in such a compromising position. Or maybe it was… but that would teach them not to leave him bed less. Jetlag was a bitch and even if he was trained to be able to be on the move at a moment's notice, he enjoyed sleeping on beds... and hammocks. He couldn't forget about the hammocks.

"Oi. Don't you think walking around talking about this sort of thing is- inappropriate?" Tonks looked around them nervously, her eyes darting about and taking in all the people that were around them as they made their way down the crowded street. For a moment, both Hermione and Harry looked at her strangely. That earned her a chuckle from the decidedly amused Harry Potter. Hermione shook her head before giving a huff and crossing her arms, looking away from Harry.

"If you haven't been paying attention, then you'll now notice we're not talking in the native language, Nymphadora." Tonks hissed! Harry laughed as he watched her hiss at Hermione like a pissed off housecat. After a few more moments of bickering, they finally fell silent as they continued their trek through the streets. Three blocks later and Harry hit the first alley that he saw, ignoring all the other people that were in the standing in front of doors along the alley walls.

"You… brought us to Hooker land." Tonks deadpanned, scanning the people and the shops along the alleyway warily, ignoring the suggestive signs and the instances where clothing seemed to be lacking. "Why are we in hooker land?" Harry rolled his eyes. He didn't ask them to follow after him , yet they did. Now with the questions. His hand slid down his face, a groan heaving from his mouth as he turned to face both of the huffing women.

"I'm here to talk to a friend. I'm not here for a hooker." He rolled his eyes at the suspicious glares he got from both before turning and continuing on his way. After a few more shops were passed, he found exactly what he was looking for. Kasumi Bath House. Or so the sign said, according to the translation charms that were embedded in one of his nine earrings. Nine purple-green and orange hued horseshoe earrings that he wore now that he wasn't under constant Dumbledore supervision.

For a few moments, he stood outside, staring at the place with a faint sign of interest before a girl walked out.

"You!" Harry stared at her for a moment, trying to put her face to a name when she started moving. He hopped back, avoiding the kick that whipped out at him, and was forced to duck as the sidekick she threw at him was turned into a high round house kick. He avoided the quick series of punches, backing up some more to stay out of her fighting range and to try and match a name with either a reputation or a face.

Her blonde hair was styled in a page boy cut, leaving a few bangs long enough to cover her right eye as she glared at him. Bright blue eyes, blonde hair and with a slim, toned figure, she was attractive. What stood out the most was the scars on her face, one on her forehead going from above her right eyebrow to her left; the other started on her left cheek and went across the bridge of her nose to her right cheek, like a jagged three sided box. Combined with life in the world of mercenary's and it made her deadly, feral but with undeniable sex appeal.

"Who did it? Who the fuck pulled the trigger on my brother?" For a moment, the glare in her eyes softened at the mention of her brother. He knew exactly who she was talking about but unfortunately for her, he didn't have any answers. Not the answers she wanted to hear, anyway.

'Shame she doesn't like men…' The thought crossed his mind as he stared right back at her, trying to think of what to tell her.

A/N: _And that's the end for now…. See you all in a bit…and Thanks for any reviews… _


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